BlueOrchid
by DancingStar01
Summary: Q has a terrible gift for Kathryn...


Title: Blue_Orchid  
Author: Dancing Star  
Genre: Romance, Humor  
Pairing: Janeway /?  
Rating: 12  
Content: Q has a terrible gift for Kathryn...  
Comments: Did you know about Star Trek Renegades or Renegade The Requiem on YouTube? If you know that: Why didn´t you tell me about it?! :-)

Blue_Orchid

Kathryn Janeway's neck ached when she entered her quarters that night. The crew had just watched a supernova from a safe distance and because she looked very stressed and tired, her first officer sent her home after the spectacle of nature.  
Kathryn was surprised because the decor of her quarters had changed. There was a heart-shaped red bed with matching pillows in the place where the couch was usually located. She rolled her eyes annoyed when Q appeared. He was wearing a bathrobe.  
"Nice you're finally here with me, Kathy," he told her, a flash lit up and suddenly Kathryn was in his arms. She wore her silk nightgown.  
"What...? What's that?"  
"There is a problem in the continuum. You can help me to solve it..."  
Kathryn thought the heart-shaped bed had something to do with it.  
"A descendant of mine could restore order in the continuum. With you as his mother... "  
"No!", She shouted and didn´t let Q finish. She saw he started to explain.

"I said no!", She emphasized, "and now get out of here!"  
Q, however, didn´t seem very impressed. "I'll give you time to think about it, Kathy. But I want to make it a little easier for you." Kathryn's body flashed for a moment, and she wore her uniform again. Q and the bed had disappeared from her quarters. Then another flash lit up.  
"What was that for?", she asked herself, noticing any change in her quarters. Determined, she tapped her communicator to ask Chakotay on the bridge to look for unusual incidents.

Q's visit at night meant that Kathryn didn´t sleep long because she was just waiting for his next nonsense. So she yawned when Chakotay entered the ready room the next morning. "The daily meeting with the senior officers is delayed by half an hour today," Chakotay informed her and handed her a PADD, "B'Elanna has a problem in the engineering. But there is another thing we should talk about."  
He handed her another PADD and Kathryn frowned. "Why is Mr. Neelix sending you, Commander? Otherwise he is not shy..."  
"I imagine it's a tricky thing," he said, leaning on her desk with both hands, "Of course, Neelix thought you'd give him permission if someone else agreed to his project in advance..."  
"And you did that?", Kathryn asked, astonished. That the vivacious Talaxian wanted to do a favor to the crew with the creation of a dating app was very loveable of him. Out here in the Delta Quadrant they only had each other and it was natural that many of them wanted to do something about loneliness. For those who were struggling, Neelix wanted to be a good helper.  
"I don´t know...", Kathryn said while she read the PADD again, "Such an app could also cause problems." For example, it would be easy to cheat on their partner for people who were already in a relationship.  
"It's a voluntary thing," Chakotay finally said, "Mr. Neelix doesn´t force anyone to sign in... At least I hope so." They both laughed when he said that.  
"Alright. Tell him he can program the app."  
"Thanks." Chakotay recaptured the PADD, "By the way, what kind of weird incidents did you mean last night?"  
"Q," she replied, "He appeared in my quarters last night because he wanted to mate with me."  
This information hit the mark. "Understand," Chakotay answered and Kathryn noticed the change in his mood immediately. She rose from her chair and raised her hand to touch him when they were interrupted by Tuvok, who called them to the daily briefing of the senior officers. Apparently B'Elanna's problem in the engine room was easier to handle.  
Without having talked about this, they left the ready room.  
On the bridge, Kathryn passed Ensign Snyder, who took over the navigation console for Tom. Kathryn thought she was doing well and so she laid her hand encouragingly on the young woman's forearm.  
She crashed to the ground at that moment and Kathryn took a step back in horror. Immediately some crewmembers gathered around the ensign. They were upset. "She's dead," Chakotay said quietly, looking at Kathryn in astonishment, who still couldn´t believe what had just happened.

"Ensign Snyder fell to the ground dead in the minute I touched her," Kathryn told the Doctor, who had heard the story from her for the fifth time. There was no question Kathryn was very upset.  
"I want to make it a little easier for you," she suddenly remembered Q's words. She also remembered the second flash. So that's it... Q had given her this terrible curse. If she was unable to touch other people, she would have to come to terms with him. That was probably his basic idea.  
"I've asked Kes to bring a plant from the Hydroponic Garden," the Doctor told her, who unfortunately didn´t notice any irregularity or change in his scans.  
"I'd prefer we use a plant as a test object than living people." The doctor saw her looking at him seriously. At that moment, Kes returned with a plant. The commander followed her.  
"Thanks, Kes," the holographic Doctor took the small potted plant. If she accidentally touched him, he wouldn´t be harmed.  
Kathryn hesitated, so he reached her the plant. Slowly, she touched a leaf and watched how it also turned black and the discoloration slowly spread to the entire plant.  
Seeing Chakotay's stunned and shocked look, she knew it was time to be seriously worried.

The doctor had ordered her to go to her quarters for the rest of the day because she could do the least damage there. Chakotay told her the crew was looking for Q. If they had found him, they would make him taking the devastating gift from her.  
As she sat alone in her quarters, Kathryn thought about her first officer: Today, she almost got up in the ready room and gently put her hand to his cheek when he learned why Q had originally visited her. Not to think what would have happened if she had actually done this...!  
Chakotay ... Frustrated, she remembered she would never have the opportunity to touch or even kiss him. Oh, how did she come to wish to come closer to him just now? It was a conceivably inappropriate moment...!  
She needed an alternative, but she wasn´t ready to create a holographic partner, because even though it was just a hologram, she certainly couldn´t bring enough emotional distance between them when it was needed.  
On the way to her quarters, she met some crewmembers who were already talking about Neelix´ app. Neelix was fast, Kathryn thought. Probably the program was already finished and he was only waiting for her approval before he published it and put it at the disposal of the crew.  
The laptop on her desk almost called for her at that moment. Kathryn couldn´t resist...  
"That's nonsense," she thought to herself. She was the captain and she wasn´t allowed to have a love relationship with a crewmember. On the other hand, she had no idea if she would ever see Starfleet again. What if, one day, she looked back to the past and regretted not having done anything against the loneliness? Then she remembered again the unpleasant gift she owed Q.  
The laptop had started now. Should she really...?  
She selected Neelix's program from the database and installed it. Then she signed up. First, Kathryn needed a username. "Kathryn123," she thought, but then she realized it was far too obvious. "Molly_J", she whispered, but then she deleted the name from the input field. That was too obvious. Her gaze wandered around her quarters and stopped at the blue orchid in a vase on her desk.  
"Blue_Orchid," she finally said (in addition, blue was the color of her eyes and she liked it very much.) and to her relief there was no other participant who had chosen this name.  
Kathryn skipped her profile and watched the list of participants. At the moment 43 people were online. A red or blue font indicated whether the participants were male or female. Kathryn couldn´t tell from the usernames who it might be. In addition, the profiles were not able to insert a photo: in general, the information was very vague and Neelix allowed only that the participants complemented their gender, age and hobbies.  
43 people were online, about half were female.  
Kathryn completed her profile and scrolled through the list of participants again. To guess that WARPCORE_XX was B'Elanna wasn´t difficult and Kathryn refrained from laughing. MatchMaker was apparently the pseudonym of Mr. Neelix.  
It didn´t take a long time for a message to open on her screen: M.A.C. wrote her a simple "Hello." Full of horror, Kathryn closed her laptop and when she realized she was fortunately in her quarters and nobody could see her, she opened the laptop. The message from M.A.C. was still open, so she also wrote "Hello" back.  
M.A.C. then wrote he had never seen her here and that she was obviously new. Kathryn had just written a response when the next message from him popped out: "Sorry," he wrote, "The dating app has not been around very long. That was a stupid question."  
They wrote to each other they only tried Neelix's app because of curiosity. Kathryn was puzzled he didn´t want to know her rank and name immediately, so they kept talking. Glancing at the clock, she realized it was nearly midnight.  
"I have to stop," she wrote to M.A.C., "Early shift." She wondered if she should ask him for a date tomorrow. Inside of Neelix's app of course...  
"Will we meet again tomorrow?", she tapped, waiting for a response for about 10 seconds. When M.A.C. wrote back "Of course", she was very happy.

The next morning Kathryn met Chakotay on the way to the bridge. "Better not get too close, Commander. I wouldn´t be guilty of losing another crew member."  
Chakotay wondered if her sarcasm was a good or a bad sign. The doctor hadn´t come to new conclusions, but Kathryn refused to spend that day in her quarters. And as long as she didn´t touch anyone on the bridge... In her opinion, being unable to touch anyone made her even more lonely than she already was as a captain.

So while he talked to her about something irrelevant, she yawned. "What's up, Captain?", he asked, "Am I boring you?"  
"No," she answered honestly when they entered the Turbolift, "I tried Neelix's app last night."  
"Have you been successful?", Chakotay asked back. Obviously she was, because she seemed to have spent half the night in front of her computer. Inwardly, her confession caused a strange feeling in his stomach. "What's his name?"  
"Why should I tell you, Commander?"  
"So I can check him." He was now able to identify the feeling in his stomach: Jealousy. "Now tell me what his name is?" He could barely hide sounding annoyed.  
"No."  
"Tell me your username?"  
"No."  
The Turbolift reached the bridge and the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach became stronger and stronger.

Kathryn was very happy when she was sitting in her quarters that evening, waiting for M.A.C. finally logged in. Delighted she realized he hadn´t forgotten her: As soon as he was online, he sent her a message:  
M.A.C. : Hello. Nice that you are online again.  
Blue_Orchid: Thank you. Nice that YOU are online again.  
M.A.C. : How was your day?  
Blue_Orchid: Well, pretty uneventful. There isn´t much to do right now. I like exciting days.  
M.A.C. Such days are a great way to breathe and gather strength.  
Now it took a while for M.A.C. to write. He seemed to have to think.  
M.A.C. : May I ask which rank you hold?  
Inwardly, Kathryn was very afraid of this question. If she wrote to him now she was the captain, he would immediately seek out the distance. So…  
Blue_Orchid: No.  
She hesitated because he didn´t answer.  
Blue_Orchid: What is your rank? May I ask for it?

M.A.C. : No. Not yet.  
Blue_Orchid: You are very mysterious...  
M.A.C. : You also….  
Kathryn smiled. He had caught her. She continued typing:  
Blue_Orchid: I think you're right. Such quiet days are a great way to breathe. How do you spend your free time when you are not at your station?  
Again, Kathryn spent the entire evening in front of her laptop and while she and M.A.C. were exchanging messages, she wondered what he looked like and who he was.

Days later, Voyager encountered a hurricane that nearly tore the ship apart. It was only thanks to the talents of Tom Paris as a pilot that nothing worse had happened. In the evening, Kathryn once again hoped for a message from M.A.C.  
M.A.C. : Hello. That was an exciting day, right?  
He was referring to her writing, she liked days when exciting things happened.  
Blue_Orchid: Yes. I've never seen a whirlwind in space and always thought they were a myth.  
M.A.C. : Have you ever experienced one at home?  
Blue_Orchid: Once. When I was a kid and spent a summer with my grandparents in Indiana... ..  
Kathryn quickly removed a part of the sentence.  
Blue_Orchid: Once. When I was a child and spent a summer with my grandparents on earth, there was a tornado. I'll never forget how we hid in the basement of the house and waited for the storm to pass over my grandparents' house.  
M.A.C. : How old were you then?

Blue_Orchid: About nine years old. My grandfather died at the tornado. When we were sitting in the dark cellar, it was suddenly quiet outside and my grandfather wanted to look. He didn´t suspect we were only in the eye of the storm and was torn away by the tornado.  
Blue_Orchid: We never found him.  
M.A.C. : I am very sorry about that.  
Blue_Orchid: Thank you.

A few days later, Kathryn and Chakotay met again in the Turbolift in the morning. In the last few days they had missed each other and always went to the bridge without the other.  
"Good morning, Kathryn," he greeted her.  
"Good morning." She smiled gently and instantly Chakotay started to sweat. She had no idea what this smile did to him.  
"Advances in your online dating?", he asked.  
"We get along pretty well," she answered simply because she thought he didn´t need to know more. "What about you? Have you ever tried it?"  
At first he didn´t know what to answer. That he was almost one of the first to register? But then he decided for the truth. "I did and I met a wonderful woman."  
"Have you met her yet?" Now her curiosity was aroused.  
"No."  
"Do you know who it is?"  
"No…."

Kathryn didn´t let him finish: "How do you know then she is wonderful? What, if she laughs like a witch and... "  
"We actually get along so well that I'm not bothered by superficialities." He was glad the Turbolift reached its destination and both got out.

Blue_Orchid: Can I ask you a very personal question?  
It didn´t take long before M.A.C. answered:  
M.A.C. : That depends on the question...  
Blue_Orchid: Have you had many serious relationships?  
M.A.C. : Lots? No. Seriously? Yes. I put all my heart into the relationships I have and I would say, I choose my partner exactly because I now have concrete ideas about life.  
Did Kathryn dare to ask more about it? He took the decision from her because he suddenly asked her about her past relationships and she decided to be honest.  
Blue_Orchid: There were two men who really meant a lot to me. It never went well, as you may suspect...  
The next moment she hated herself for asking him about it. She had to finish the conversation for today:  
Blue_Orchid: I'm logging out better now. It was the wrong topic. I'm sorry.  
She switched off her laptop but couldn´t help but check the next morning if she had any new messages and she did: MatchMaker wanted to know how she liked the app so far, but there was also a message from M.A.C. who he hoped he hadn´t hurt or dismissed her with his answer. Her sudden logout had irritated him, but not deterred. With a happy feeling in her stomach, she made her way to the bridge.

She and M.A.C. had been writing for two weeks now and Kathryn thought it was nice to be able to talk to someone. At the same time there was a kind of thrill because she had no idea who he really was. She gathered the information she had about him: He was athletic, about her age, and didn´t want to talk about his rank. It had to mean that it was quite clear when he told her his rank. And the more Kathryn thought about this sticking point, the more she remembered she was the captain, and the captain wasn´t allowed to have a relationship to subordinate officers. The only problem was she and M.A.C. were meanwhile writing in every spare minute and feeling more and more like they were a good combination.  
Besides, the Captain of Voyager had a problem, she recalled, and as long as Q didn´t release her, only her online dating remained. But she knew she was long past the point of only communicating with him in writing. She would like to get to know him personally. Maybe she´d asked him for a spontaneous date today, so Kathryn chose a dress and tried it on.  
She was disturbed by a visitor waiting at the door of her quarters.  
"Come in!", she called. The visitor was Chakotay.  
"Excuse me, Captain," Chakotay told her. "If you look at this PADD, I'll be done and..."  
He had not expected her to come out of the bathroom. She wore a tight, black dress which didn´t even reach to her knees. "Please don´t get me wrong, but I'm a bit busy," Kathryn said. By choosing a matching dress for her date with her chat partner, in case she would ever be able to convince herself to invite him.

She was so busy with the PADD that she missed how Chakotay studied her as she read. The sight of her even skin and her scent awakened the desire in him to pull her closer and kiss her. If there was not this little problem...  
"I think that's alright," Kathryn finally said, "We're looking for a quiet spot so that B'Elanna can fix the warp core."  
Chakotay was amazed she agreed so quickly.  
"Hello Kathy," suddenly a voice said to them, "Hello, Chuckles."  
Kathryn and Chakotay rolled their eyes at the same time. "How many people have we killed today?", Q asked amused, but Kathryn didn´t find it was funny at all.  
"Take this gift from me," Kathryn's voice sounded determined.  
"I have to," Q answered and she had to admit she had expected more resistance and discussion. "With everyone else, my plan would have worked, but with you... It frustrates me you have resigned and accepted you would never touch another person again." Q realized he would never win her with this devious trick.  
So he gave in and freed her from the horrible curse.  
"But the question is...", he said ominously before disappearing, "... who is willing to risk touching you. I could have made it worse…"  
Another common trick of him, Kathryn was sure. But he was right, she couldn´t risk touching somebody...  
"I'd be willing to," Chakotay told her when they were alone again.  
"I can´t ask you for that."

Their eyes met.

He threw the PADD away and it landed in her chair. With great strides he bridged the distance to her and when he stood directly in front of her, he looked into her blue eyes, which became bigger. Then he leaned over and kissed her. If he had to die now, it would have been worth it, he thought to himself.  
Kathryn was surprised and after her moment of shock had passed, she returned his kiss. They realized he hadn´t fallen dead on the spot like Ensign Snyder. They suddenly stopped. Kathryn's heart rate quickened as he gave her that disarming smile. She also smiled and couldn´t resist, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him again. This time much more intimate and passionate.  
Happily, they deepened the kiss, their hands wandering. Chakotay pulled her close and gently stroked her back. She had to admit she liked it when he did that and let herself go. Kathryn groaned when he became even more tenderly, but then a thought flashed through her mind. "I can´t do that!", She suddenly pushed him away, "I have... I met someone." She was breathing hard.  
"In Neelix 'dating app?", He asked, unable to believe he was losing out because of an online dating experience.  
"Yes," she nodded frantically, "You also met someone." He had at least told her.  
"I will write to her it´s over. You are the only one I want."  
"No," Kathryn was still breathing hard, "I can´t. Please leave now." She watched him leave her quarters and Kathryn needed a moment to calm down.

That evening, she wrote M.A.C. a message:  
Blue_Orchid: I would be very happy if we could finally meet. Meet me at 8 pm at Holodeck 1.  
She stopped over the keyboard. If she now wrote to M.A.C. she was the captain, she risked that he wouldn´t show up.  
Blue_Orchid: You recognize me by the blue orchid I have in my hair.

It took about 10 minutes to get an answer.  
M.A.C. : I´m really looking forward. You also recognize me by a blue orchid, which I bring for you.  
Kathryn leaned back in her chair. She was looking forward to the date.

At 8 pm Kathryn was waiting at the holodeck. She wore the chic black dress she had chosen for the date. Her long, red hair hung in soft waves over her shoulders and behind the left ear she wore the blue orchid.  
Was it wrong to date him? Oh god, she was so tired of being alone all the time. And she had the feeling that M.A.C. understood her. However, the memories of the kiss in her quarters today still haunted her mind, and she still felt Chakotays gentle, caressing hands on her back.  
As a holodeck program, she had selected the Polynesian hotel designed by Neelix. And now she sat here on a stone bench and waited for her date. But he didn´t come.  
"Computer, what time is it?", she asked.  
"It's 8:15 pm," the computer voice answered monotonously.  
Kathryn laughed, snorting. How could she be so stupid? Probably her date had seen her and had gone away, knowing he had agreed to meet the captain. She got up quickly and went down the stairs.  
"Kathryn?", she heard a voice and stopped. She recognized the voice immediately and as she turned around, she smiled. Hastily Kathryn ran up the stairs. The man wore elegant, black casual clothes and in one hand he actually held a blue orchid.  
"I wish it was you," she said softly, taking a step toward Chakotay and wrapping her arms around his neck. They didn´t waste time kissing each other. Kathryn happily noticed how he put his arms around her. The blue orchid in his hands fell carelessly to the ground. How she had wished it was him! For her, he would have been ready to end his online dating without knowing it was her. And she would never get involved with someone else.

Then Kathryn grabbed his hands. "Come on," she whispered, pointing her head in the direction of the exit door and smiling, "We've been waiting long enough."

The next morning, Chakotay woke up in his bed alone. At first he was disappointed because she had left after their wonderful night. After telling him on the holodeck they had been waiting long enough for each other, they finished the simulation. In the Turbolift Kathryn gave the order to take them to deck 3, but Chakotay corrected because his quarters were closer. They spent the whole night together. "I love you," Kathryn said breathlessly before she fell asleep in his arms late in the morning. And now... Now she had left him alone.  
Chakotay wanted to sigh and get up, but a noise in the next room made him sit up and take notice. It was the confirmation tone of a replicator, followed by the quiet cursing of a woman. Should she have stayed here?  
The next moment Kathryn entered his bedroom. She had her blanket wrapped around her body and her hair hung open over her shoulders. In her hands she held two cups of coffee.  
"Good morning," she smiled sheepishly when she sat down and handed him one of the cups.  
"Good morning," he replied, taking a sip, "How long have you been awake?"  
"Since half an hour. I had to fight a bit with your replicator, so unfortunately the breakfast is poor, "she rolled her eyes, then looked at him tense, "You know, I have one day off spontaneously." Kathryn took a big sip of coffee, then she put the cup down. "As far as I know, you also have a day off", she made her voice sounding seductive, "Any plans?"  
"I have some concrete plans...", he said and also put down his cup. Kathryn understood this as an invitation to sit on him, but with a quick move Chakotay got up.  
"Where are you going?", Kathryn called after him and was surprised to see he came back with his laptop.  
"Delete my profile in Neelix dating app. I don´t need that anymore: After all, I now have the woman I love." He sat down next to her in bed and kissed her.  
Kathryn was touched. "A good idea. I'll do that later." She leaned against his unclothed torso and watched him typing on the keyboard. Then she remembered a question she wanted to ask: "What does M.A.C. actually mean?"  
"Actually, I wanted CommanderChakotay as username, but that was already taken."  
He smiled at her astonished look. "That's right," he added, "You can check it out. I ask myself who's behind this username."  
They saw in the list of users that CommanderChakotay happened to be online right now. They looked at his profile and Kathryn realized the person behind the pseudonym had described him very well. Obviously a good friend took pity on him and tried to help without knowing that he was capable of helping himself. One more thing Kathryn envied him for, but she felt something was about to change.  
"Don´t you want to find out who it is?", Kathryn asked while she slid closer to him, "Let's send a message..."

M.A.C. : Okay, tell me! Who are you?  
CommanderChakotay: What? Who's there?  
M.A.C. : I asked who you are. Why do you pretend to be me?!  
For a few seconds they received no response from CommanderChakotay and the raiding contact seemed to scare him or her. But then…  
CommanderChakotay: Sorry, Commander.  
Their interlocutor prepared a longer answer.  
Kathryn took over the keyboard now.  
M.A.C. : Us?  
CommanderChakotay: Lieutenant Torres and me. When I saw how sad you and Captain Janeway were when it turned out that the Captain couldn´t touch anyone without life-threatening consequences, I wanted to do something for you to cheer you up. I have to mention, I let Lieutenant Torres help me a bit to set up your profile...  
M.A.C. : Who are you? I order you to answer me.  
Kathryn couldn´t believe she really wrote that. When their interlocutor answered, she almost thought she could see in her mind the person sitting in front of the other keyboard. At the same time, she was surprised, because she really hadn´t expected that:  
CommanderChakotay: The doctor.

Fin


End file.
